ArticleMidwifery2019
Factors influencing the use of birth pools in the United Kingdom: Perspectives of women, midwives and medical staff.
Article in Midwifery, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Understanding the barriers and facilitators related to birthing pool use from organisational and multi-professional perspectives: a mixed-methods systematic review.Reproductive health · 2023Pooled it
- Is a randomized controlled trial of waterbirth possible? An Australian feasibility study.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2022Trial
- Characteristics of Women, Intrapartum Interventions, and Maternal and Neonatal Outcomes Among Users of Intrapartum Water Immersion: The UK POOL Cohort Study.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2026Article
- Establishing the safety of waterbirth for mothers and their babies: the POOL cohort study with nested qualitative component.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2026Article
- The practicalities of adapting UK maternity clinical information systems for observational research: Experiences of the POOL study.International journal of population data science · 2023Article
- Perception and knowledge of Saudi women about water birth: A cross-sectional study.Belitung nursing journal · 2022Article
- Factors influencing water immersion during labour: qualitative case studies of six maternity units in the United Kingdom.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo identify factors influencing the use of birth pools.
designOnline discussion groups and semi-structured interviews, analysed thematically.
settingUnited Kingdom.
participants85 women and 21 midwives took part in online discussion groups; 14 medical staff participated in interviews.
findingsFactors influencing the use of birth pools were grouped into three overarching categories: resources, unit culture and guidelines, and staff endorsement. Resources encompassed pool availability, efficiency of pool use and availability of waterproof cardiotocograph equipment. Unit culture and guidelines related to eligibility criteria for pool use, medicalisation of birth and differences between midwifery-led and obstetric-led care. Staff endorsement encompassed attitudes towards pool use. KEY
conclusionsAccessibility of birth pools was often limited by eligibility criteria. While midwifery-led units were generally supportive of pool use, obstetric-led units were described as an over-medicalised environment in which pool use was restricted and relied on maternal request. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Midwives can improve women's access to birth pools by providing information antenatally and proactively offering this as an option in labour. Maternity units should work to implement evidence-based guidelines on pool use, increase pool availability (even where there appears to be low demand), and enhance awareness amongst medical staff of the benefits of water immersion.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.